Water Tribe
The Water Tribe is a name used to describe the Nation of Waterbenders and Nonbenders living in the North and South pole. These climates are usually covered in snow and ice but are perfectly livable to its habitants. Some Waterbenders can also live in a settlement within the Earth Kingdom that consists of mostly swamplands called the Foggy Swamp. For the most part, the separated tribes, North, South, and Foggy, don't really interact with each other due to their distance. Distance isn't the only thing separating each tribe as each of them share different cultural norms among themselves. In most cases, people of the Water Tribe are peaceful, though not to be mistaken for weak. The dominant season for the Water Tribe is the winter. This means that more Waterbeners are born in the winter than any other season. Water Tribe culture is, as the name states, that of a tribal setting and primarily lead with a strong military. This is especially true after all three tribes served in the ending of the hundred-year war. Aside from their militant structure, the Water Tribe is actually a very spiritually rich culture, especially since the portals leading to the spirit world are located at the North and South pole. History Origins During the era of Raava, the ancestors of today's Water Tribe had received their bending from the Lion Turtle they had inhabited. They would request the ability whenever they were set out to leave their home and venture into the Spirit Wilds for food. After the Lion Turtles had left their roles of protectors of mankind, these ancestors had created their first few settlements in the North Pole. These settlements grew into becoming one large city that was later broken apart due to discourse that leads to several members traveling to the South Pole to create their own tribe. Since the split, each tribe has kept some similar cultural aspects the same, but have developed many differences. Culture The Northern Water Tribe The Northern tribe is led by its chief who currently is Chieftess Akna. This is particularly strange due to the tribes' known patriarchal views. It wasn't until 100AG that women of the tribe were permitted to even learn Waterbending outside of healing. Women are also at marrying age when they turn sixteen. At this age, they are proposed to by men with a hand-carved betrothal necklace that is to be worn as a display of engagement. This is completely organized by the parents as free love is not practiced. The Southern Water Tribe Though very similar in terms of what they way and common practices, the south is not as oppressive as their northern sister tribe. The Southern Water Tribe is lead by its chief who is currently Chief Kaito. The Southern Tribe is much smaller yet practices a lot more freedom for its people. Men and women of the Southern Water Tribe are allowed to learn waterbending as well as marry freely as they please. A rite of passage for members of the southern tribe is held at the age of fourteen, where the children are expected to navigate a ship through a river of large chunks of ice. Each child earns a mark of honor for passing: The Mark of the Brave, the Mark of the Wise, and the Mark of the Trusted. Both tribes often wear blue to represent the element of their nation along with animal furs for warmth. Their fashion still represents a slightly tribal form, but both tribes still have differences in the type of things they wear. Typically the members of the tribe will have darker skin, brown hair, and blue eyes. The names of their citizens will typically include one or two uses of the letter 'K' or 'Q' with "ah" sounds in them. The Foggy Swamp Tribe The Foggy Swamp Tribe is very different from the others. They don't typically look the same as the other two in terms of physical appearance as well as clothing. The clothes they wear are giant leaves fashioned into basic covers for their private areas and their heads. Not much is known yet about the Foggy Swamp Tribe, however. Aftermath of War The hundred year war affected each tribe in different ways. Each tribe did take part in the downfall of the Fire Lord Ozai, but the effects of one hundred years of the Fire Nations aggressions did cause lasting damage that even to this day have yet to be restored. The Southern Tribe was reduced to a small spec on the entire South Pole due to the Fire Nations constant raids. The Northern Tribe broke out into political warfare among themselves having lost the Princess and nearly losing the Moon Spirit during the assault led by Admiral Zhao. The Northern Chief Arnook took it upon himself to lead some members of his tribe down to their sisters in the south and help repair what was lost in the war and to rebuild the bond between both tribes. Despite his best efforts, the elder chieftains of the north didn't agree with Arnook. The elders actually saw this as a time to remove the northern tribe from any more worldly affairs as they saw the damage and trauma it had caused for their home and their people. The Chief would not change his mind and neither would the elders which lead to civil war breaking out. Instead of watching his home be torn apart over a senseless war Chief Arnook respectfully stepped down from his title and left to the south along with several other members of the tribe. The closest relative and eldest of the chieftains was appointed Chief in his place. Chief Tarkik believed that the North would be able to sustain themselves as they had for the last hundred years, and maintaining that with more isolation would bring them more success. Communication from the rest of the world, including the southern tribe, stopped over time and the Northern Water Tribe became a completely isolationist nation. With more wars waging on between the other nations and their sister tribe, they even began to raise their surrounding walls twice as high and continuing to mind their own business. It wasn't until the death of Chief Tarkik that the new Chieftess Akna, his daughter, decided to venture out of the ice that anyone was seen from the north in a long time. The Southern Tribe began to repair itself slowly over time. Resources were slim for many, many years and the citizens lived in tiny huts or tents. With the Northern crew arriving and settling in the tribe began to become somewhat self-sufficient again. For reasons still unknown, in the year 106AG, the south was attacked by malevolent spirits that took the lives of many including the Chief. Young Kaito was appointed chief at this time and with his wife passing in the attack he cared for his people and his daughter by himself for years onward. After the second war with the Fire Nation in 120AG and losing his daughter the Chief fell into a long depression for about two years. The tribe suffered losses of the war and the Chief mourning for so long, but after two years had managed to rebuild themselves into a better tribe that mimics the design of the north and continues to rebuild to this day. Category:A-Z